LOS ANGELES — “Yeah, yeah, Lebbeus Woods: conceptual architecture … ” said a friend and recent architecture school grad just before I dodged beach traffic and made my way downtown for a new exhibit at The Southern California Institute of Architecture “ … never built anything.”

Defiantly non-conformist, anti-starchitecture architect Lebbeus Woods died on Tuesday, October 30. He was 72. Through a lifetime of work, the vast majority of it existing only on paper, Woods challenged the architectural establishment, railing against boring buildings and resisting the temptations of money and fame that turned architects like Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas into celebrities.

Lebbeus Woods is probably the most famous architect you’ve never heard of. Although, perhaps the word architect is limiting. Since the beginning of his career at a number of highbrow firms in the 1980s the architect, theorist and (I will venture) artist has weaved his off kilter brand of design in and out of a variety of mediums. He has become most famous for his temporary installations, pavilions, interventions and proposals that play with existing spaces, designs and systems.